Well I am supposed to be packing, but I am avoiding it. Today was our last full day. It was another beautiful day. We took off for the Market at about 8:45 and we found that the Market was closed. It’s another holiday (Emancipation day I think). They were having a very large celebration in Marigot. The Market was closed and they were putting up speakers and lights, etc. There were also ther types of booths just beginning to go up. The traffic was terrible because they had the road in front of the Marina closed. It was not a big deal for us to miss the Market because we had already done our shopping at Rimas. So instead we decided to see if the Ma Do Do factory was open. We have never ventured out much in that area of the island. So we headed to Cul de Sac. We found the tiny signs to the Ma Do Do factory, but just as we suspected, it was also closed. So then we decided we would go up the hill and over to Anse Marcel. Oh my gosh! That road is kind of scary! I guess you get used to it if you go that way often, but we were holding our breath and driving in low gear. There were some beautiful views along the way though!
After the trip up and back over the hill, we made our way over to Orient again to have a few hours in the sun and say goodbye to our friends. We had already decided we were not going to stay all day. We wanted to get back and spend the last afternoon alone by our pool. Originally, we were thinking about going to the Lolos in Grand Case on the way back, but changed our minds. We decided we might end up in traffic all afternoon in Marigot, so we opted for the road through the Dutch side instead. It was a little longer, but we didn’t not hit a bit of traffic. We stopped at Grande Marche for a few croissants for breakfast and one last look for the elusive caraway gouda, but no such luck. No caraway gouda to be found on this trip!
I was starving so I suggested Lido’s. I had heard such good things about it on the board here that I just had to try it. We got a Rib Meal and a Chicken/Rib Combo meal, both with sides. It was $19 for the two meals. They were HUGE! We could have split the one Rib/Chicken combo. The sides included mac and cheese, Rice, Coleslaw and a sliced potato kind of casserole thing. It was incredible. I am a dry rub kind of rib lover. I like to put the sauce on at the end. So these were just to my liking! Perfect!
The Lidos meal was intended to be a late lunch, but it ended up being dinner. After we picked up the food, we were driving through Maho and noticed that there was a Minguet gallery and it was open. We have a framed Minguet print hanging in our bedroom at home. It’s the one you used to see all over the island. It is a view of Baie Rouge. We decided that it would be nice to have another piece of St. Martin art at home. A constant reminder of how much we love it here. So we made an impromptu stop at the gallery. Minguet’s daughter now runs the gallery. Sorry I can’t remember her name, but she is very nice! I told her about the print I bought in ’96 and she said her father had died the following year. We looked around the gallery and there were so many beautiful pieces. We decided to purchase a four lithograph set of Grand Case. My husband really loves the one that is a view of the main street in Grand Case. If you look in the bottom right corner of the piece, there is a rooster. He just thinks it’s funny. Also, there is another one that is basically the view that you get from Sunset Café at Grand Case beach club. Out to Creole rock. Whenever I look at that picture, I will think about having lunch there on this trip and seeing the woman floating far out on a raft. We think she had fallen asleep because she was over half way out to Creole Rock. We’re not sure what happened to her because she was still out there when we left.
We were almost ready to leave the gallery and I decided that I just had to have this other lithograph of Happy Bay. We didn’t make it there this trip, but I just love the picture. She gave us a discount on it since we had purchased the four others. We are so happy that we stopped at the gallery. It is going to be so nice to have another piece of the Island on our walls at home.
We didn’t make it back to the house until 5pm. So much for spending the last afternoon by the pool. Oh well…. and like I said, the very late lunch was now dinner. It all works out because we definitely blew the dinner budget at the gallery! So we enjoyed our Ribs and Chicken and just watched another fabulous sunset. So here I am, supposed to be packing, but I’m writing this instead. I have to force myself to go do it because we have a 9:40am flight home tomorrow. It will be an early day.
Well it has been an incredible trip and it was great to be able to share it with you all. It was much easier to do it a little each day. Everything was still fresh in my mind. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
“Talk” to you all soon…..
Patty
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